Lesson from a Story

Told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe at a public gathering on 11 Nissan, 1983.

A true story. A story of a Jew who unknowingly started a chain of events whose ripple effects he could never have imagined. A Jew blessed by G-d with great wealth, who takes an occasional vacation on his yacht. He employs a captain, a non-Jew, to sail the yacht.

The time for prayer arrives. Jews face towards the holy city of Jerusalem during prayer, towards the east. He does not know where east is on the ocean. He asks the captain.

Prayer time again. Again the same problem, where is east? Again he asks the captain. And so with the third time he prays, and the fourth.

The first time he asks, the captain pays no special attention. When the employer keeps on asking the same question, the captain becomes curious. His employer is not the navigator. Why is he always interested in knowing where east is? He asks him.

The Jew is not ashamed. "I am a Jew," he answers. "I want to pray to G-d. Prayers pass through the site of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. So I must face that direction, which in this part of the world is east. Each time I pray I need to know where is east."

The captain is impressed. This is a successful man, wealthy enough to own a yacht and hire a captain. Yet he considers it proper to interrupt his affairs to pray to G-d - and to bother to face the correct direction. "I will also begin to think of G-d and pray to Him," exclaims the captain.

Later, the captain told the yacht owner that ever since he decided to pray to the Creator, he has also told his family and friends about praying to G-d. "If all the people in the world would think about their Creator," concluded the captain, "the world would not be the jungle it is!"

A Jew can influence non-Jews to acknowledge the Creator and ruler of the world, and to therefore conduct themselves according to the Seven Noachide Laws. Moreover, as seen from the story, such influence is effective just by a Jew being proud and firm in his religion. The yacht owner did not intend to influence the captain. But because he conducted himself properly, his influence was automa-tically felt. He could not know of the ripple effect he would cause merely by asking where was east. And because of him, a non-Jew began to think about G-d, conduct himself more righteously - and in turn, lead others in the same path. All because of one Jew's actions.

On a deeper level: The world is like a ship sailing in stormy seas, steered by the governments of the world. But appearances are misleading. It is not they, with their plans and strategies, who determine its course and destination. The course of the world is determined by the spiritual, not the physical. The governments who conduct the world's affairs are the captain who steers the ship. They steer the ship; the Jew, through his perfor-mance of mitzvot, charts the course.

And this is what the story of the yacht teaches. It seems the non-Jewish captain is the master, for he controls the rudder that steers the ship. Yet it is the Jewish owner who is truly master, and it is the owner who directs the yacht's destination.

The owner of the yacht is wealthy, and "there is no wealthy person except in [Torah] knowledge." Through Torah, the Jew can influence the world, can chart the course. Just as the yacht owner, through acting according to the Torah's teachings, influenced the captain, so too Jews, through standing firm in performing mitzvot, can influence the nations to acknowledge the Creator and Master of the world.